Meet Mike Nithavrianakis, former British diplomat to Pakistan who is running a global marathon to help educate 25.2 million children in the country
Mike Nithavrianakis worked as a British diplomat in Pakistan for three years from 2019 to 2022, working as Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi and Trade Director for Pakistan. During his time there, he clearly remembers his first visit to a school run by The Citizens Foundation (TCF) in Pakistan, The students in the classrooms were intrigued by their lessons and displayed what he described to IBT as a genuine “thirst for learning and knowledge.” Not just the students, the staff welcomed him warmly, the head teacher was humble and deeply committed to the school she led.The visit revealed to Nithavrianakis the enormous disparities within the country’s education system. In a country of enormous size and population, education opportunities range from elite private schools to no schools at all. Today, approximately 25.2 million children in Pakistan remain out of school and Nithavrianakis is working to solve this situation.“My first school visit left a deep imprint. I have many lasting impressions, but the clearest memory is of interacting with a group of quite young pupils who were so engrossed that one could literally see their thirst for learning and knowledge,” he said to the outlet. That encounter fostered a long relationship with TCF. During his three years in Pakistan, he asked TCF co-founder Mushtaq Chhapra how he could help. Chhapra encouraged him to spread the word about the organisation and its mission. But he wanted to do something even more impactful and his hobby of running offered an answer. “I wanted to do more than that and thought combining my passion for running with fundraising for TCF would be a small gesture of support.”During his diplomatic posting, he took on the London and Manchester marathons within a week of each other to raise money for the foundation, generating more than $350,000. This helped fund a new TCF campus in Matiari District, Sindh, leading to its name, TCH School, The Nithavrianakis Campus.Now, he has extended the scale of his efforts. Through the 2026 Global Run for Education, he aims to raise $1 million for TCF. Based on the organisation’s annual cost of educating one student, that amount is equivalent to supporting roughly 6,000 students for a full academic year.His 2026 race schedule includes Milan on April 12, London on April 26, Sydney on August 30, Chicago on October 11 and New York City on November 1, before culminating in Karachi on January 3, 2027. Additional race entries may be announced as plans are finalised.TCF currently operates 2,261 school units serving 320,000 students across Pakistan. Its 16,500 teachers are women, and the organisation maintains a commitment to balanced enrollment among girls and boys. Its schools are designed to make education more accessible in underserved communities, including for families who might otherwise struggle to send their children to school. Nithavrianakis hopes the campaign can extend TCF’s educational opportunities to more children. “I sincerely hope that it gives them the best possible chance to benefit from a fantastic education and maximise their potential. All any parent can hope for in life is that their child is given the same opportunities as others. With TCF, the sky’s the limit.”Given the strong support for TCF in the United States, Nithavrianakis is also considering how future race entries could help reach new supporters in 2027 and beyond.As a career diplomat, Nithavrianakis has had eight substantive postings with the UK Foreign Service, including Malaysia, Russia, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan and Somalia. He recently retired from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). “Speaking from the heart, there is no better feeling than seeking support for a cause like TCF. I have realised in later life that giving is so much more rewarding and enjoyable than receiving,” he said.
